Five killed in Mumbai highway accident

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Five persons, including the driver, were killed when the car they were travelling in rammed onto a roadside tree on the Western Express Highway here on Thursday, a police official said.

The ghastly accident occurred at 5.30 a.m. near a marble factory, opposite the western end of the Mumbai Airport’s main runway near the Milan Flyover, Senior Police Inspector Raksha Maharao of Vile Parle said.

The impact of the crash was so great that Honda City car climbed up around 10 ft on a full-grown roadside tree before sliding off, killing at least four occupants on the spot, said Maharao.

According to investigations and eyewitness accounts, the driver Muzammil M. Kanojia, 22, apparently lost control of the speeding vehicle on the road that was relatively free of traffic at the early hour.

The police have established the identity of the deceased as Rashida Y.Sheikh, 25, Junaid Faquir Sheikh, 22, and two other males whose identity is not yet known, she added.

Though the vehicle bears a Pune registration number, three of the victims were residents of south Mumbai and further investigations continued to find the owner of the vehicle and where the victims were going to or coming from.